After graduating in 1964 as Valedictorian of my class, I attended West Texas State (now West Texas A and M) University.  I moved to Oklahoma with my first husband for his job and returned to college at Southwestern Oklahoma State, from which I graduated with a BA and  an MEd from Southwestern Oklahoma State, and did some further graduate work at Texas A&M.  I married my second husband, Christopher Gould, in 1982.  He is a retired full professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he chaired the Department of English for eight years.

I taught composition and American literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington from 1987 to 2010, serving for 10 years as the Undergraduate Coordinator of Advising in the Department of English.  During my career I published several poems and some articles, and I coauthored the ninth edition a college-level composition textbook that came out in 2013.  I was a reader for the Advanced Placement Composition and Literature Exam for 17 years.  I also created two courses for the English Department at UNCW, Illness and Disability in Literature, and as an offshoot of my huge interest in theater, Pulitzer Prize Drama.  For the latter, I had the pleasure of having the famous character actor Pat Hingle, who had retired to the area, speak to my class the first year.  He had appeared on Broadway in three of the plays I was teaching.

My son by my first marriage, Neill, died at age 23 following an automobile accident.  My daughter, Emily, born in 1984, graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2006.  She worked for a year with Americorps, building houses for Habitat for Humanity.  After that she became a licensed real estate broker and now manages three apartment complexes in Wilmington, NC.  Several years ago she “retired” from women’s flat-track roller derby.  She has been in a long-term relationship with a wonderful young man, David.

I did theater work in college in Oklahoma and community theater work in Amarillo and in Oklahoma.  My husband and I travel extensively, having been to every state except Hawaii, much of Canada, Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Greek Islands, Malta, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, St. Petersburg, and various cruise ports (ten cruises so far). Of course I read a lot.   It would surprise people to know that I took a fencing class when I was 50, and I sang “Danny Boy” in a piano bar on a cruise, and “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” and “Do it to Me One More Time” in a karaoke bar.

  Gayla Stewart Hastings was born in May of 1956 in Slaton, Texas to Edwina and Reverend Marshall Stewart. She is the youngest of 3 children behind her sister, Marsha Farnsworth, and brother, Duane Stewart. Her family lived in Slaton, Tahoka, and Wichita Falls before moving to Hamlin in the fall of 1965 when her father became the pastor of Hamlin Church of the Nazarene. She started school in the fourth grade at Hamlin Elementary and graduated from Hamlin High School with the class of 1974. Gayla was a proud member of the Pied Piper Band from seventh grade all the way through high school.

  In 1976, she married Steve Hastings, HHS graduate from the 1976 class, and began the 20 year journey with him in the United States Air Force. They lived in Texas, Kansas, and South Korea before returning to Texas in 1996. The Lord blessed them with a baby boy, Scott Hastings, in 1980 and a baby girl, Shelly Hastings, in 1983 while on their journey. In 1993, they were transferred back to Abilene and stayed to raise their family. Steve retired from the USAF at the end of 1994. Gayla has been employed at several different companies, including Blue Cross Blue Shield and Hendrick Health. She retired from Hendricks in April of 2024 and is now enjoying life with her husband, daughter, and 4 grandchildren.

  Gayla’s son, Scott, passed away in 2009 and she has been living her life happily in memory of him.

  Regina Kelly graduated from the hallowed halls of Hamlin High School in 1984. She has always enjoyed the slower pace of West Texas and the simple life that brings. So, when she found love and married Jayson Propst, she moved to Anson to settle down and raise their family. Regina could not have been happier. Together, they have overcome obstacles of many sizes and shapes and built a life filled with love, complete with a family they are overwhelmingly proud of.

  Together, they have three wonderful children who are now married and raising families of their own. Regina is the loving mother to Josh Propst and his wife Brittney, Ragan Bowen and her husband Josh, and Alexandra Barnett and her husband Robert. Regina still enjoys the simple life only West Texas can provide. She spends her time keeping her husband Jayson in line as best she can and spoiling her ten grandchildren as much as possible. Her life is filled with love and may be called simple to some, but with ten littles it is hardly slow paced.

  Regina lives each day fulfilled as a caring mother, a doting grandmother, and a loving wife. She is always willing to give her time and compassion to anyone in need. In every action, every day, she shows the power and strength of growing up in a small Texas town. Although Regina may have moved away from Hamlin, Texas, her heart never strayed too far away.

  Heather is the daughter of Jackie and Rita Warne and married Robby Kiser, graduate of the HHS Class of 1990, on July 25, 1998. Together, they have 2 sons, Will, HHS graduate from 2018, and Weston, a 2022 graduate from the Hamlin Collegiate ISD.

  Following my graduation from high school, I attended South Plains College and earned my Associates in Applied Science as a Paralegal. In 1996, I returned to Hamlin and began working for Jack Willingham in his law office, and then later went to work for Hamlin National Bank.  I was then blessed to be able to stay at home to raise our boys until 2013, when I enrolled at Texas Tech University Health Science Center to earn my nursing degree.  I graduated from Texas Tech University Health Science Center in December 2014 with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing.  My RN career began at Hendrick Medical Center in February of 2014 as an Oncology/Hematology floor and charge nurse. In November of 2018, I left Hendrick to become the Director of Nurses at Hamlin Memorial Hospital before the doors closed on July 31, 2019.  In January 2020, I started my current position with Stonewall Memorial Hospital District as the Chief Nursing Officer.  I now serve the Stonewall Memorial Hospital District as the Chief Nursing Officer which includes the many hats I wear as both the Swing Bed and Trauma Coordinators, Infection Control Nurse, and Behavioral Health RN.

  When I am not working at the hospital, I am working on our ranch. In what little free time I have, I enjoy sitting on our porch watching the wildlife and our cattle roam around on our Stonewall County Ranch.  My husband and I enjoy traveling, going on cruises and just taking family vacations to the lake or the coast.

  I was born and raised in Hamlin and graduated from Hamlin High School in 2004. I am the daughter of Jerry Woods and Paula Prewit Rodgers, both graduates from the Hamlin I.S.D. in the years 1985 and 1987 respectively. Following my graduation, I attended Hardin-Simmons University where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, and in 2022, I earned my Master of Business Administration degree from Angelo State University. I am employed by the Abilene I.S.D. where I serve as the Comptroller. I am married to Jud Beall and together we have one son, Grayson Beall, and three daughters, Maryn Beall, Hannah and Caroline Poehls.

     I attended Hamlin Public Schools beginning as a first grader in 1952 and graduating in 1964. After graduation, I attended McMurry College for one year, then transferred to Hardin Simmons University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education in 1968. Later, while serving in the US Navy stationed at the Pentagon, I attended and graduated from George Washington University in 1972 with a Masters Degree in Special Education.

     My parents moved to Hamlin in 1949 and soon thereafter, I met Judy Fitzgerald in the First Baptist Church nursery. I don’t remember much about that first meeting, but in 1966, in that same church, I married Judy Fitzgerald! This past June we celebrated our 58^th Wedding Anniversary. We have one daughter, J’Nae, who now lives in Franklin, TN.  She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Music-Vocal Jazz.  She later completed graduate studies in Music-Song Writing at UCLA. She is a Jazz Vocalist/Pianist and sang professionally for over twenty years in the Los Angeles area. She has now moved to Nashville and continues her singer/songwriter career while teaching music at BrightStone, a day program for adults with Developmental Disabilities. Before J’Nae, the music teacher at BrightStone for 17 years was her mother, Judy. We like to keep things in the family! J’Nae also has studied interior design and recently received her License as a General Contractor in Tennessee. She flips houses and enjoys buying and selling real estate. Judy and I are also co-guardians of her brother, Alan.  He grew up in Hamlin, is now 69 years old and lives in a supported living home in Fort Worth. Alan has had a profound influence on our family and we are blessed to have him in our lives!

     While attending college, I began working in direct support services at the Abilene State School. After graduating, I taught Special Education in Abilene public schools for one year before joining the Navy in 1969. After four years and assignments in Norfolk, VA, Boston, MA and Washington, DC, I returned to Texas and began a long career of working with individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). This included working for the Texas State Commission for the Blind, followed by many years with the Texas Department of MHMR. I worked in various management positions in five different state facilities throughout the state and spent the last thirteen years of my tenure in Austin as the State Director of Intellectual Disabilities. As State Director, I worked to improve the services in all Texas state facilities and to provide homes in the community for adult men and women with IDD. After retiring from state service in 1996, I provided consulting services in a number of states throughout the country. In addition to consulting, I was appointed by the federal court as a member and later chairman of the Quality Review Panel.  The Panel, established because of a class action lawsuit, provided information directly to the federal judge and ongoing monitoring of the services provided by the state of Tennessee. I retired from that position in 2018 after the requirements of the lawsuit were completed.

     Judy and I moved from Texas to California, where we lived for three years before moving to Nashville in 1999. We enjoy traveling in our motorhome throughout the US.  We are both members of the First Presbyterian Church choir and have traveled with the choir to Scotland, Ireland, France, Switzerland and Eastern Germany. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit Japan where our daughter had a residency at the Grand Hyatt Regency Hotel in Fukuoka.  We attend all the traveling Broadway Musicals at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and enjoy the live music opportunities that Nashville offers.

     We are both proud to have grown up in Hamlin and graduating from HHS. We have attended all the Class of 1964 Reunions for our 10^th, 20^th, 25^th, 30^th, 40^th, 50^th, 55^th and now our 60^th!  Wow, we are getting old!

  Following my graduation from Hamlin High School in 1974, I married my fellow classmate, Dana Wright, on June 28, 1975.I enrolled in Hardin-Simmons University where I graduated in 1979 with a BBA in Business Management and carried with me many memories of being a member of the “World Famous” HSU Cowboy Band in addition to being a part of the Baptist Student Union.

  Then came the joys of our lives with the addition of 4 children and 7 grandchildren. I began working for the Abilene Post Office in May 1975, retiring in 2016 after serving in the capacities of supervisor, Superintendent of Postal Operations, Manager of Mail Processing and as Postmaster in various cities in Texas. I served as the President of both Greenville and Sweetwater’s Kiwanis Clubs while residing there. For 35 years, Dana and I served as volunteers with all aspects of the youth groups from the churches we attended in the various communities or cities we lived in at the time, and from those years and experiences, we were tremendously blessed.

  Jimmy graduated from Hamlin High School in 1984, and continued his education, graduating from Angelo State University in 1988. Jimmy married Lynnette Hall Woods, a 1986 Hamlin High School graduate. Jimmy and Lynnette reside at Lake Stamford “America”, Texas. Together they have 3 daughters: Stephanie Nell Tubbs, Brittany Rae Harding and Katy Lea Woods. They are the grandparents to Tandem Mitchel Harding, Tailyn Mack Harding, Ty Madelynn Harding and Josephine Taylor Woods.

  Jimmy retired from serving with the Abilene Police Department in 2021, and is currently employed by the Taylor County Constable’s Office as a Bailiff for the 104^th District Court in Abilene.

  Immediately following my graduation from high school, I went on a wheat harvest with Ed and Tony Cole, driving a grain truck. When we returned, I went to work for G & G Carpets for a short time helping install flooring. An additional interest of mine post-graduation was drag racing, something I enjoyed doing for several years.

   Around October 1994, I began a college program in Snyder for the required education and training to become a corrections officer for the TDCJ. In February 1995, I started in the French Robertson Unit in Abilene working the 3^rd shift in the General Population division for five and one-half years. I then transferred to the day shift, Mondays through Fridays, working for the security portion in the Career and Technical Education Department of the unit. It was during that period of time, I learned about the varying trades being taught to the inmates. The HVAC program peaked my interest, and I started helping the HVAC instructor outside of the prison once he had his own personal HVAC business. After ten and one-half years or so while working security, I was offered the opportunity to teach the HVAC Course there in the prison for the Windham School District, the education agency within TDCJ. I accepted the opportunity and have now been teaching for thirteen years.

  Once I began teaching, I began pursuing my own personal HVAC Contractors License in order to sell and service heating and cooling equipment here in Hamlin and the surrounding area. I now have my own business here and operate under the name of Pritchard Services. It was during the time I began teaching that I met the love of my life, Patricia. We do not have any children, but we do have a spoiled rotten Mini Schnauzer named “Gabby”. At the end of February 2025, I plan on retiring from the prison system having achieved thirty years of service under my belt with TDCJ. Once retired, I plan on concentrating more on my HVAC business and working on projects around the house.

  Michael spent the majority of his childhood in Hamlin, graduating from Hamlin High School in 2004. He is the son of the late Mike and Donna Hill. His brother, James, is also a graduate of Hamlin High School. Michael is the proud father of Skylar and Braylee Hill.

  Music has always been Michael’s talent and hobby, and he turned his hobby into his career. He served as a worship leader early on in his musical outreach, and has joined up with his musically talented brother, James, forming the band “The Hill Brothers.” The duo stays busy composing much of their music, and they perform their varied musical genre in venues throughout the Big Country and other locations in Texas. They will be performing in downtown Hamlin following the parade.

  Michael’s life statement of himself: “A father of 2 amazing kids, a musician, and a child of God.”